What is Nissan's strategy?

[FalcOn]

First it was the Patrol and now the Pathfinder, why does Nissan only offer petrol in newly developed 4WD - not that this sounds like a 4WD contender anymore...

http://www.carpoint.com.au/reviews/2013/medium-4x4/nissan/pathfinder/nissan-pathfinder-2013-quick-spin-38783

[bushbandit]

Maybe they should rename it to Streetfinder if its a majority purchased for urban use.

[Robin Miller]

Nissans Game is to make a profit and there appears little reason to develop a diesel just yet.

Refering to latest 4wd action road test between 200 series diesel and patrol V8 confirms this.

A 5000km Simpson round trip head to head gave Nissan better ride , power and better handling in sand.

But the kicker was the fuel consumption - The 298kw beast achieving 15.8lt / 100km whilst the cruiser was 15.4.

I.E. No significant difference - > Now lets repeat that, no real difference and we are talking about a fire breathing monster petrol against the Landcruiser diesel.

So if fuel is a non-issue , why bother with the rest.

[Moto Mech]

But Caravan world done a test between both vehicles above and fuel consumption for nissan was near 30lt 100km to 20 ish for diesel cruiser.( towing a van)
And I wouldnt put too much faith into what 4wd action said either

[Bird]

But Caravan world done a test between both vehicles above and fuel consumption for nissan was near 30lt 100km to 20 ish for diesel cruiser.( towing a van)

Robin has been a 4.8 fan since he got the first one that blew up...

And I wouldnt put too much faith into what 4wd action said either

[D4D]

But the kicker was the fuel consumption - The 298kw beast achieving 15.8lt / 100km whilst the cruiser was 15.4.

They're playing with themelves - http://news.drive.com.au/drive/new-car-comparison/outback-comparison-review-range-rover-v-mercedes-v-toyota-v-nissan-20130816-2s03i.html

It was the Patrol that needed the most. On top of its 140-litre tank we pumped 60 litres from jerrycans. In the end it used about 180 litres - upwards of 30 litres per 100 kilometres in rougher stretches - with the average fuel use across our test route (Birdsville to Kulgera, in the Northern Territory) of 18.9L/100km.

It was closely followed by the LandCruiser, which used 17.4L/100km. What raised the Cruiser's overall fuel use was the higher-speed running - it had a packed roof rack that ruined its aerodynamic drag.

Keep in mind the 200 had 300kgs on the roof rack...

[FalcOn]

Maybe it's the market they are interested in. Diesel cars in the US represent less than 5% of new cars while 70% are sold in Europe. It still doesn't make sense why they wouldn't offer both to open up the market. Even in the US diesel cars represent the strongest growth yet Nissan go the other way. Then they sell the old model next to it not to lose market share!

[Robin Miller]

I was thinking just how far we have come D4D - even if one excepted that test over the Head to Head 4wd action test then we are still only talking about a less than 10% difference in something that is less than 20% of the cost of ownership , and with the Patrol offering better angles, handling , clearance and power it really is a new world out there with these direct petrol injection systems.

[D4D]

Pity you can't get PULP in the bush

[MIC78C]

Pity you can't get PULP in the bush

Bingo!! 

[Robin Miller]

Guys you gotta get out more, thats a big red herring  - the Y62 will tune itself down to ULP it just won't be as good.

Mind you its getting harder to find places without Pulp and couple of weeks ago in Birdsville I got quite a surprise when that mobil service station round the back had Pulp and Ulp at same price - so did Copley, and both were cheaper that the diesel.
Not sure whats going on there - maybe between deliveries ?

[Bird]

Guys you gotta get out more, thats a big red herring  - the Y62 will tune itself down to ULP it just won't be as good

ding ding ding ding

[chester ver2.0]

So you are looking at about a 12L Per 100 difference when towing or working. The offset this by the usual cheaper price of unleaded for the average punter who may only do one decent trip of 5000k per year (i am being generous here) it would cost them approx 600 Litres in extra fuel at say $1.50 per litre = $900 dollars per trip

[BigJules]

Surely it would be hard to identify any strategy within Nissan Australia for many years? For eg,

• Had a good car in Pulsar, dropped that and brought in Tiida
• Had a good car in Micra, design was raped by radioactive ladybug
• No midsize sedan or hatch in a market eschewing larger vehicles
• Maxima styling blights a great vehicle
• Had a good car in Xtrail, but have now softened it and made it look exactly like Dualis
• Sold old and new model Navara's side by side
• Now the same with Patrol

On the plus side

• Have one of the best supercars in the world in the GTR, but you hardly see them anywhere
• Z car is cool

[DannyG]

They make some odd decisions but the figures dont lie...........

Production output   4,889,379 units (2012)
Revenue                    ¥9.63 trillion (2012)
Operating income    ¥523.5 billion (2012)
Profit                          ¥342.4 billion (2012)
Total assets           ¥12.8 trillion (2012)
Total equity          ¥4.51 trillion (2012)

[Goose]

That's  ¥342.4 billion Yuan profit last year or A$59 billion Australian.

On about 5 million cars per annum, that's A$11K profit per car.

Surely not?

[DannyG]

That's  ¥342.4 billion Yuan profit last year or A$59 billion Australian.

On about 5 million cars per annum, that's A$11K profit per car.

Surely not?

yeh easily. You need to factor into the profit a lot more things than just cars, although Nissans dont break down so spares wouldnt be a big part

[chisel]

I was recently reading a discussion about diesel vs petrol in the landcruiser forum.  I don't think petrol is that far behind but checking the numbers it seems like under 10% (maybe 5%) of new 200 series are petrol - despite the recent upgrade in petrol donk for them.

So the market has spoken. 

Toyota recently took most of the remaining 4wd petrol hilux versions off the market.  Not many petrol 4wd utes out there anymore.

Gotta wonder about Nissan's approach.  Worldwide it might be petrol that has the advantage but they'll struggle in Australia.

[Bird]

On about 5 million cars per annum, that's A$11K profit per car.

Surely not?

Easily + Shit loads more.

You should see the discounts places like Rio Tinto get on cars..  . and they still make money on those cars..

[GeeTee]

I was offered a $27K discount on a new TI-L Patrol the other day

and I didn't even ask


because I wont be buying any new cars for a while

[Bird]

I was offered a $27K discount on a new TI-L Patrol the other day

and I didn't even ask


because I wont be buying any new cars for a while

but that was just due to your good looks.

[GeeTee]

but that was just due to your good looks.

Oh. The sales bloke was... well... a bloke.   

[BigJules]

Saw my first Y62 Patrol on the road just this afternoon.

[gronk]

Even though the figures can be made to look like they stack up for the Petrol versus the Diesel, the reality is ( and no matter what price you paid for the 4wd ) that every week it costs you more out of your pocket to fuel a petrol..


Now, we know if you had bought a cheaper petrol in the 1st place, then that saving would have taken X amount of yrs  to get even if you had bought a diesel.......BUT.....in the real world, you have bought and paid for the 4wd ( or paying it off ) and the fuel cost is coming out of your pocket every week..

[BigJules]

Hey, I resemble that...